Pulse width compression and enhancement of peak power in a diode-pumped doubly Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 1.34 μm laser with AO and V3+:YAG saturable absorber

By using both acousto-optic (AO) modulator and V3+:YAG saturable absorber, a diode-pumped doubly Q-switched a-cut Nd:GdVO4 laser at 1.34 μm is realized. The average output power and the pulse width for different AO repetition rate f have been measured. The experimental results show that the doubly Q-switched laser can compress the pulse width and improve the pulsed peak power in comparison to the singly Q-switched laser with AO or V3+:YAG saturable absorber. At the pump power 10.34 W and f = 10 kHz, the greatest pulse width compression ratio 72% and the highest peak power improvement 8.8 times have been obtained, respectively.